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12.17.12 MEN'S BASKETBALL: Cavs Drop Third Straight

Men's Basketball, 2012-12-17

(North Canton, OH) Walsh (5-3, 2-3) lost its third straight game, falling 63-59 to Saginaw Valley State University (5-2, 3-2) in a Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletics Conference game. The loss gives the Cavs their first three-game losing streak since the 2004-05 season. This is just the second such streak under Head Coach Jeff Young, whose first full season was that 2004-05 when the Cavs won the NAIA D-ii National Championship. The Cavs are idle until December 29, when they host Ohio Mid-Western College at 4 pm.

Things looked good for the Cavs as they built a 37-26 first half lead. Walsh led by as many as 14 points (32-18) late in the half, as Kenny Kornowski (6-9, Sr., Marshallville, OH/Smithville) led the way with 12 first half points. The Cavs held the Cardinals to just 33% from the floor on 8-24.

The Cavs kept the lead between five to nine points the first ten minutes of the second half and led 55-48 with 7:23 to play. The Cardinals closed to within three points at 55-52 on a Mike Schaaf layup with 6:37 to play and then to one point at the 5:41 mark on a layup from Rob Clark.

The first tie of the second half came at the 4:32 mark when Jay Thames tied the game at 56 on an offensive rebound. Kornowski then split free throws for the Cavs to give them a 57-56 lead with 3:15 left.

After Saginaw regained the lead at 58-57 on a Brett Beland jumper with 2:43 left, Walsh took its final lead at 59-58 on a Kornowski jumper with 2:13 to play.

Saginaw regained the lead for good (60-59) on two free throws from Kellen Smith with 1:59 to play. They would add a layup from Clark to lead 62-59 with 16 seconds left. After Walsh’s Jesse Hardin (6-1, Fr., Warren, OH/Harding) missed on a drive to the basket with seven seconds to play, Clark added a free throw for the final margin.

Kornowski led all scorers with 25 points and had nine rebounds. Jeff Copeland (6-5, So., Toledo, OH/St. John’s) was the only other Cavalier to reach double figures with 10 points off the bench.